Saved, Almost Bust and Saved Again

The media often use the term ‘long suffering` to describe supporters of various football clubs. The phrase is overused, especially when referring to supporters of Manchester United, Chelsea or Liverpool.

‘Manchester United in crisis`, one newspaper read. I suppose they`re correct if being fifth in the Premier League, still in the FA Cup and Europa League with a team costing well over £300m constitutes a ‘crisis`.

Google describes the term ‘long suffering` as ‘having or showing patience in spite of troubles, especially those caused by other people`. Portsmouth, they could rightly use that term. So could Blackpool. And so too could Birmingham City.

Historically, Blues have never been a massive success trophy-wise. But locally, Birmingham City have always been massive for the citizens of Britain`s second city.

With the Kumar brothers at the helm, Blues were on the verge of going bust before being saved by porn-baron, David Sullivan, who bought the club for little over a quid. He joined forces with David Gold, Ralph Gold and Karren Brady as Blues started rebuilding as a club.

Terry Cooper, Barry Fry, Trevor Francis and Steve Bruce all eventually fell by the wayside as Sullivan & co appointed Scotland head coach Alex McLeish.

After suffering relegation, McLeish`s Blues were promoted once again before recording their highest finish for decades of 9th. It was during that season Carson Yeung and Grandtop International began sniffing around.

When the sale eventually went ahead, Blues fans were glad to see the back of Sullivan`s hierarchy. The Birmingham Mail ran a poll in which 86% of fans confirmed they wanted Yeung at the club.

At the time Sullivan said- “I think deep down the public have had enough of us. They think we should have mortgaged our houses to buy more players to compete with Chelsea and Arsenal. The honeymoon is long over and we’re at the divorce stage now, unfortunately”.

Yes, Blues fans wanted Yeung but that was based on what little was actually known about the Hong Kong hairdresser.

In the early days, money was spent on the squad, £40m to be precise. The love affair didn`t last, however. With Yeung being investigated for money laundering, Blues relegated despite the immense high of lifting the Carling Cup, the real situation started to come out in the wash.

Boardroom politics hindered the club both on and off the pitch, cash was evaporating and any player worth anything of note was shown the exit door.

McLeish departed in the midst of it all, Chris Hughton came and went after a play-off defeat at the hands of Blackpool and a Europa League run, Lee Clark was eventually appointed manager.
For all of Clark`s efforts, the job was a difficult one. His inexperience and lack of tactical nous soon got to the fans who voted with their feet as crowds at St. Andrew`s drastically dropped.

The home form was wretched, Clark`s team selections left a few scratched heads and Blues were soon stuck in a relegation dog fight. Because of this, Yeung, whose company is now called Birmingham International Holdings, escaped attention.

The bank account was in dire straits and the club desperately needed investment just to guarantee making it to the next week.

To summarise the state of the finances, Paul Robinson was signed on a week-by-week contract for £200 a week. This led some fans to criticise Nikola Zigic, who was raking in £67,000 a week. That deal was originally negotiated by one of Yeung`s ‘football advisers`.

An injury time equaliser at Bolton saved Blues from sinking into League One. But after a poor start to the following season, Clark was removed from his duties and Gary Rowett took the reins.

Club director Panos Pavlakis called in the receivers after the club, now treading water financially, became in danger of administration or even worse, liquidation.

It`s fair to say it has been a drastic turnaround. Yeung and his henchman Peter Pannu are distant voices from afar and losses have cut from tens-of-millions a year to tens-of-thousands.

Thanks to the receivers, we now know that Pannu was paid more than a Premier League footballer, Mrs Pannu`s car was leased out of the clubs pocket and Yeung`s money laundering stretched as far as club matters.

But now, we can see the light. With the club performing well on the pitch, Pavlakis making funds available for new players (with Diego Fabbrini becoming Blues` most expensive signing for five years) and the fans starting to come out of hiding, the club is being restructured – Blues` away following has saw them sell out their last three away games and their next two.

So when the media want to refer to ‘long suffering` fans, they could do worse than pay a visit to B9 and speaking to the real people of Birmingham`s football club.

@robwildey123